To The Castle Beyond
by xBlackRabbitx
Summary: It's five years since Sarah last visited the Labyrinth, and two since she last visited her Goblin Kingdom friends. When she receives an ominous note at five in the morning, she's called back to her past, and to the man who lived in the castle beyond the Goblin City.
1. Bump In Her Night

Author's Note: Hello, darlings! It has been a very, very long time. How have you been? Since I last uploaded anything here I moved to Melbourne, completed an undergrad degree, started a masters (both in creative writing) and am now living in a cute apartment with my boyfriend of four years. That's a lot of things! The day before yesterday I read 'Fangirl' by Rainbow Rowell and was overcome with the need to write fan fiction again, so here we are! I'm sorry for abandoning you all. Here is a nice story that is maybe a bit of a mess, but it's nice to get back in the game.

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Chapter One: Bump In Her Night

There was a crack and a flash and Sarah was quite suddenly awake. A sulphuric smell burned her nostrils and it took several minutes for her eyes to adjust to the predawn gloom. Gradually she was able to make out the dark shadow of Sam, her roommate, sitting stiff and upright in her bed across the narrow room.

"What was that? A flash bomb? Is one of the frats attacking?" Sarah asked groggily.

"I have a feeling flash bombs are pretty illegal", Sam replied. "Also, you're covered in feathers."

"A feather bomb?" Sarah asked in confusion, looking down at the bed.

Black and white feathers were scattered across her lap, mixed with a fine, sparkling powder. She rubbed the powder between her fingers and immediately regretted it; her fingers were now gritty and sticky with blood.

"This is broken glass... did a bird come through the window?" She glanced up, but the window appeared intact. The chaos seemed confined to her bedspread.

"I can handle the boys camping out in the hall and you talking in your sleep, but this is a whole other level, Sarah." Sam mumbled.

"I didn't know I did that..." she replied vaguely. Sarah had just spotted the scroll – paper so white it almost glowed, wound with black ribbon and sealed with wax – which perched in the middle of the carnage.

"I have to go wash my hand, can you call the RA?" She said, picking up the scroll and holding it like it could combust at any moment. It felt heavier than it should.

She pulled herself carefully out from under the covers and walked out the door before Sam could reply. Grey light was beginning to creep through the glass wall of the stairwell and somewhere down the hall music was pumping softly from under a doorway. Nothing out here in the hallway felt eldritch or strange. If it weren't for the throbbing in her fingertips she could dump the scroll in the hall bin and pretend it was all some inexplicable prank.

Sarah grinned at the empty hallway.

She ducked into the bathroom, tucking the scroll awkwardly under her chin as she washed the blood and glass from her fingers. Then in three long strides she crossed from the sinks to the stalls and locked herself in. It had been a terribly long time since things went bump in her night.

The seal on the scroll was colourless wax. There was a crest pressed into it, a bolt of lightning flanked by elegant runes. It made Sarah uneasy, so she was extra forceful when breaking it. A black candle, no bigger than the sort put on birthday cakes, slipped out of the roll of paper. She caught it just before it fell into the toilet. It smelled not like wax, but sea salt and cloves. The note was written in English, but with strange accents and curlicues on all the letters, like its author understood the beauty of writing but not the principle.

YOU HAVE BEEN NAMED AS CHAMPION. ONCE YOU LIGHT THE CANDLE YOU WILL HAVE THIRTEEN HOURS TO COMPLETE YOUR CHALLENGES. HIS FATE IS YOURS.

It was signed with more strange runes. Sarah stared at the words and shivered. Reading the message was like hearing someone shrieking her name from somewhere dark and far away.

His fate is yours. Whose fate?

Toby.

She unlocked the stall and ran back down the hallway to her dorm room.

"RA's on the way", Sam said as she entered. "I think I interrupted her while she was getting biblical, so she could be a while."

"I need to borrow your phone. It's an emergency."

"This is an emergency now? What happened to yours?" Sam eyed her suspiciously.

"There was a terrible beer pong accident. Which reminds me, I owe you a bag of rice." Sarah stuck out her hand impatiently.

"I'm so lucky I don't have one of those weird roommates." She handed over the phone and Sarah began to dial immediately. After two rings a little boy's voice answered.

"Hello?"

She breathed a huge sigh of relief. "What are you doing up?"

"Sarah?" Toby sounded sheepish. "I wanted to watch cartoons."

"What cartoons could you possibly be watching at this hour?" Sarah asked in her scolding-but-not-really-mad voice.

"South Park."

"Toby! Go to bed now, young man."

"No fair. You shouldn't even be calling this early."

"It was an accident. I butt dialled you." Toby giggled when she said 'butt', as she knew he would. "You're only six, you should be sleeping."

"Ok", he yawned. "Love you, big sister."

"Love you too, goblin." She hung up, breathing another sigh of relief.

"All good?" Sam asked.

"Maybe. Hopefully." Sarah ran through a mental list of names. Hoggle? Ludo? Sir Didymus?

She stared at the feathers strewn across her bed. Black feathers that ate up the light, brittle-looking and sharp. White feathers, soft and crumpled, with bloodied roots like they'd been plucked with violence. White feathers from the wings of an owl. Somehow, she knew: the black ones were a warning, the white ones were a threat.

Another name began to write itself in her mind, beginning with an elaborately curled 'J'. She mentally reached out and snapped the calligrapher's quill, but the letter still burned itself into the backs of her eyes.

"Sam, you are my best friend." She said slowly.

"Oooook, I am immediately nervous."

"Things in this room are about to take a turn for the bizarre – the even more bizarre – and it's probably going to be easiest for you if you pretend you just had an especially big night last night." Sarah stripped down out of her pyjamas and pulled on some jeans, boots and a sweater. "If I make it back I will try to find time to explain, but please remember that we are very close to finals week and it may be best for us both to just forget any of this ever happened."

"I have no idea what you're talking about but I'm going to lend you my baseball bat." Sam nodded as though this was a very sensible decision.

Sarah grinned and took the proffered bat. "You're the best."

"Again, I'm very clueless here, but if you die I get your stuff."

"Deal." Sarah rooted around on her desk until she found a lighter. She shoved the scroll into her pocket and tucked a white feather into the strap of her bra, then lit the small black candle.


	2. Welcome Committee

Author's Note: Two chapter's today because y'all deserve it!

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Chapter Two: Welcome Committee

She was standing at the top of a hill, under a stunted tree, beneath an orange sky. It was the same one Sarah had stood on five years ago; of course it was. She had been here again a few times since, meeting her friends for the occasional adventure. They always travelled away from the Labyrinth and the castle at its centre, exploring the tamer parts of the Goblin Kingdom. But it had been a long time. Two years, she thought, since her last visit. A couple of months before she left for college.

Sarah started walking down the hill without thinking, without looking, but almost immediately skidded to a halt. The air was wrong, thick and foggy, and she could smell salt and something else, like an oyster bar left alone in the sun. Much of the Labyrinth had crumbled into dust six years ago, leaving an empty plain which quickly became a forest. She looked up and opened her mouth in surprise; the hill now led to a cliff, and beyond that cliff was a sultry grey ocean. Its surface rippled like a pot about to boil, waves occasionally breaking into foamy crests and sprays of spittle. Several miles from the shore a tower rose, black against the orange sky.

"Thirteen hours", a deep voice said behind her. Sarah spun around, clutching the baseball bat tightly. "Would it be terribly rude to say I hope you fail?"

"Rude, but not unusual." It wasn't Jareth, but another Fae man. She looked him up and down; he was tall, almost gangly, and very handsome, with high cheekbones and a feminine jaw. He had Jareth's slanting eyebrows and strange eyes, boring into her from his olive-skinned face. There were two others, a man and a woman, he so pale as to be almost transparent and she with dark skin and a high forehead. They all wore white robes embroidered with black veins of lightning.

"As you are yourself most unusual, you will forgive me if I do not take you by your word." He narrowed his eyes slightly and frowned. "You're pretty enough, I suppose, though that only explains the want, not the outcome."

"I'd better not be on the clock right now, because honestly..." Sarah tapped her foot.

The Fae woman waved her hand and a familiar clock appeared.

"Alright, what am I doing here? Where am I going?" Sarah asked.

"A Trial by Champion was requested", the woman said, "and you were chosen to serve. You have thirteen hours – starting now – to reach the Tower Across the Sea, or the prisoner will die."

"Prisoner?"

"An old friend of yours, as I'm sure you know." The first Fae man gestured to the spire, so many miles away. "He should have been killed long ago. He should have been killed now. I was outvoted."

"Do you mean- who is he?" Sarah looked back over her shoulder at the edge of the cliff, then out to where the Fae pointed.

"You know perfectly well who he is. Although I do wish he could here you say that," he smirked, "it would offend him so to hear you barely remember him."

"You are very unhelpful," Sarah huffed, "and I am going to leave now. So you can just... shove it."

She turned and stomped away towards the edge of the cliff. She knew far better by now than to try and get anything useful out of eldritch creatures. She knew exactly the sparkly tyrant she had been summoned to rescue, even without that sub-par confirmation.

"Good luck, Sarah Williams. Do try not to drown." His voice faded away behind her.

"Alright, Sarah," she said to herself, "you're on the edge of a cliff, in a strange land, you have to cross an ocean to rescue a cute despot you met when you were fourteen, and you're armed with a baseball bat and a Zippo lighter."

That was still more than she'd had with her the first time. And at least there could only be so many surprises in the ocean. No gropey holes to fall down, no swamps, no creepy creatures with detachable heads. Just a load of salt water. And possibly sharks.

Sarah stood as close to the edge of the cliff as she could manage and peered down. The cliff face was mostly clay, with brittle weeds growing in the gaps. She knew what she was looking for: something which looked like nothing. There, a little way down, catching the light a little differently: stone steps, leading from the top of the cliff a few feet away and sloping down to the waves.

She scurried across the top of the cliff to the top of the stairs, trying not to let the wind blow her away. They steps were narrow and shallow, designed for a much smaller thing than her; she inched downwards, her back to the cliff. It took what seemed like an age, and Sarah knew she was wasting time, but she knew if she went too quickly she would fall.

Finally she made it to the bottom. There was a small strip of sand right at the base, barely two feet across. There were no waves here, just the edge of the grey water. She dipped the toe of her boot in cautiously; nothing happened.

"Ok, Sarah, solve the riddle." She ran her hand across the cliff, feeling for some kind of lever or doorway. Her lacerated fingertips reopened on the rough rock, leaving a streak of blood. Sarah swore softly; it was never a good idea to shed blood when there was magic present.

There was a low mumbling from the cliff face and a crack opened, shooting up from the sand. A pale blue rowboat shot out of the gap and Sarah quickly stumbled into the water after it. She stood up to her knees in the freezing brine, holding onto the edge of the vessel.

"Yes, alright, good, a blood-boat." She started climbing into it when there was another rumbling sound from the cliff, and a chunk of clay landed with a splash in the water beside her. The crack was spreading rapidly, sending chunks of the cliff hurtling into the sea.

"Oh, good." Sarah said sarcastically, pulling herself into the boat and grabbing the oars. She started rowing, immediately regretting not trying to bring Sam with her. Sam was on the rowing team. The national championship rowing team. She gritted her teeth and pulled.


	3. Blood In The Water

Author's note: Hello again! Here's the new one. I will possibly have another chapter up this evening, otherwise you'll get it tomorrow morning (the whole thing is finished and ready to go!)

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Chapter Three: Blood in the Water

Chunks of yellow clay were landing in the boat and in the water, whizzing past Sarah's head and thunking into the oars. She tried to get into a rhythm – stroke, stroke, stroke – but that required a level of calm she didn't quite possess. Eventually the chunks of cliff began to fall short of the boat. She pulled herself further and further out into the open water. A final piece of rock grazed her cheek as it flew past, and Sarah felt blood trickle down to her chin.

"You're sweating, you're covered in clay, and now you're bleeding from your face," Sarah groaned, "so this reunion is going very well so far and I think you're really going to come out on top."

She had never quite dropped the habit of talking herself through tasks. She whinged less now, was more self-deprecating; a lot had changed since she was fourteen. It was probably bad and made people think she was weird, but it was comforting somehow, to be able to tell herself what was happening and what she was going to do.

"Why do you even care how you look? Why are you doing this? Sarah Williams, you must have to most prolonged case of Stockholm Syndrome in history."

The water was getting rougher now, even without debris breaking its surface from above. Sarah looked back over her shoulder at how far she had to go. If she was able to keep a steady pace, it should only take her a couple of hours to reach the tower, but there were some awfully big waves ahead of her. She gripped the oars white-knuckle tight then loosened her hands again. Even the boring parts of being in the Goblin Kingdom were dangerous.

Rowing. Rocking. Trying not to throw up. Rowing and rowing and rowing. Throwing up a little bit. More rowing.

The shore was distant enough now that she could no longer see the tree at the top of the cliff, but the tower still felt impossibly far away. Sarah was drenched from waves crashing into the side of the boat. Blisters were forming on her palms.

She remembered Karen's advice after her first, extremely painful breakup: "no boy is worth this much trouble." That was excellent advice. Karen should get that printed on T-shirts. Sarah should get it tattooed on the insides of her eyelids.

"He's an evil kidnapping fairy," Sarah said to herself through clenched teeth, "you haven't seen him in half a decade, and you jump into some stupid quest without a second thought because the stupid bastard was pretty."

A wave crashed over the stern of the boat, spraying Sarah full in the face. She spat and spluttered, then yelled a very loud curse into the air.

Something bumped into the boat under her feet.

"I... think I will ignore that." Sarah said, adding some speed to her oar strokes.

There was another thud into the wood underneath her, and a bronze fin broke the water's surface. Sarah began rowing as fast as she could, but the bumps were coming faster now, and harder. Another bronze fin crested to her right and something hit the side of the boat so hard that the wood splintered. She stood up carefully, placed the oars in the bottom of the boat and picked up the baseball bat just as something flew out of the waves and at her face. Sarah swung as hard as she could, sending it flying. Another leaped at her and she swung again, but the third landed in the boat beside her.

It looked similar to a goblin, if goblins had fins on their heads and backs and long, sharp teeth. Its eyes were flat and black and it hissed at her, lunged with teeth bared at her ankle. Sarah leapt backwards and the thing overshot, crashing into the side of the boat. She gave it a push and it fell back into the water with an angry splash. It surfaced again, glared at her, and rammed itself violently at the side of the boat. The wood splintered again and Sarah almost lost her balance. Then out of nowhere another creature leapt through the air at her, and she fell backwards into the icy water.


	4. Beasts In The Brine

Chapter Four: Beasts in the Brine

Under the waves it was chaos. The current pulled Sarah in every direction. Her eyes burned and there was no breath in her lungs and all her limbs were too heavy and wouldn't work. She couldn't find up or down. There was roaring in her ears and salt water in her nose and throat. She was panicking. Her brain shut down and all she could think was FIND UP. DON'T DIE.

FIND UP.

DON'T DIE.

FIND UP.

DON'T DIE.

DON'T DIE.

DON'T DIE.

Her head broke the surface and she took a huge gasp of air, only to be pushed down again by a wave. She couldn't see anything but grey water and bubbles.

Her head broke the surface again and she fought for it, desperately pulling herself upwards. Her flailing fist crashed into something and she grabbed for it; one of the wooden oars. It seemed determined to float, so she held on.

She saw the little blue boat drifting a few meters away, and the tower a few miles behind that, so she pushed the oar out in front of her and started to swim. The creatures seemed to have disappeared, but the ocean kept trying to pull her under. The waves pushed the boat towards her, then pulled it away again. Her hands and feet were numb, but her muscles burned. Dark shadows moved in the water beneath her. Everything was short goals, short thoughts.

DON'T DIE.

A wave pushed the boat suddenly almost on top of her. She scrabbled out from underneath it and tossed the oar over the side. The bottom was full of water, but it was still afloat. Sarah started to pull herself into the boat, just as something huge moved in the water behind her.

She pulled herself into the boat as quickly as she could, almost capsizing it on top of her, as a huge serpent rose out of the sea. It was black and bronze, covered with seaweed and corals which made it look like tarnished copper. It had the cold, empty eyes of a shark and so many teeth that they spilled out of its mouth and along its jaw. She could just register the shapes of other creatures clinging to the beast's scales, crabs and eels and strange symbiotic fish with suctioned mouths.

"Hello", Sarah called out feebly.

The serpent dropped suddenly into the sea, driving towards Sarah with lightning speed. She crouched in the boat, gripping the sides and bracing her body. Suddenly the serpent was underneath her, the boat dragged along in its wake. On impulse she reached over the side and grabbed a handful of seaweed, and she was pulled along so suddenly her arm was almost yanked from its socket.

Sarah clung on as the serpent raced through the water, sending up huge sprays of water on either side of its body. This was better than jet-skiing or wakeboarding or any of the other extreme activities she and Karen had bonded over on family holidays. She whooped with delight, tossing back her head and letting her hair stream out behind her.

In a matter of minutes they were almost at the tower and without warning the serpent dived. Sarah was again dragged under the water, the boat flipping over and leaving her behind. They were deep, deep under the surface, a land of shadows and speckled light. The serpent's body stretched out through the water behind her, glimmering in sinuous motion. It was moving slower now, veering right around a thick, black rock which rose out of the ocean floor.

The tower.

If she didn't let go soon, she was going to miss it. And also, probably, drown. Sarah steadied her legs against the serpent's back, bending her knees. Her brain was beginning to scream at her to take a breath.

The beast stopped, suddenly, and its head snaked around to look at her. It fixed her with its flat grey eye, then motioned with its head towards the rock. She looked where it was directing her; there, craved from the stone, was a doorway.

Sarah nodded and gave the beast a thumbs up. It blinked, slowly, squeezing its eyes shut like someone smiling. She braced her legs against the serpent's back, bending her knees, and kicked off as hard as she could in the direction of the doorway. She swam towards it, trying to concentrate and her arms and legs and not her need to take a breath. The serpent moved behind her, and its motion through the water sent her tumbling through the entrance.

There was light a little way above her, and Sarah pushed towards it. Her whole body burned and before she could stop herself she drew in a lungful of ocean water. She was panicking again. She wasn't going to make it.

FIND UP.

DON'T DIE.

Sarah broke the surface of the water and managed to draw a sputtering breath before throwing up sea water.

"Eeeeew", she whispered to herself as she treaded water. She was in a huge cave, lit by orbs of cold white light. The walls were black and shining, and stalactites hung from an unknowable ceiling almost to the surface to the water. An ornate stone staircase led out of the water and curved its way around the cave wall. Sarah swam towards it, dragging herself up onto the steps. The stone was just as cold as the water, and she immediately began shivering.

"At least I don't smell like sweat now", she mumbled, squeezing water out of her hair. "How much time do I even have left anyway?"

Sarah dragged herself to her feet and began to climb the stair.


	5. Portals

Chapter Five: Portals

Everything seemed to echo in that space; her squelching footsteps, her dripping clothes, the sound of her breath. Sarah took one of the glowing orbs from its sconce in the wall – her lighter was intact but very wet – and held it out in front of her. She had hope it would keep her hands warm, but if was cool to the touch. She moved quickly up the stairs, trying to exercise her way out of chattering teeth.

The risers and railings of the staircase were carved with the faces of terrible beasts, the twisting branches of dead trees, and scenes of stern Fae folk. The treads were slick and shiny and Sarah almost slipped many times. Finally a doorway opened, carved abruptly out of the wall. An impassive stone face carved into the peak of the arch watched Sarah as she slipped through.

She was in a tunnel, rougher hewn than the cave, and sloping gently upwards. The cold orb-light made strange shadows from the rocks.

"Well, a ramp is better than a staircase," Sarah reasoned, "and you had to go through a door eventually."

She advanced upwards, trying to keep track of the minutes as they passed.

"One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. What do I do when I get to sixty Mississippi? Do I start again? I'll forget how many minutes there are. If I just keep going will I have to keep dividing by sixty?"

She kept talking quietly to herself and tried to ignore the scuttling sounds behind her.

"I can't have been rowing for more than three hours. But it took me about an hour to get down that cliff face. And I was climbing that staircase for a while... let's say that plus the time I've been in here is another hour and a half. So that's... almost half my time." She took a deep breath. "Alright, that's ok. I've made it to the castle already. I've definitely almost died more times than in the Labyrinth but I am definitely making better time."

This place had clearly been made by the Fae, not goblins. Had that hill really been on the edge of the Labyrinth as it had always been, or was it somewhere else? Was it the generic 'welcome to fairyland' hill that appeared for all magically transported travellers, or had this ancient-seeming tower and an ocean full of beasts really sprung up in the space of two years?

The tunnel abruptly levelled out and widened, becoming a round chamber with doorway-peppered walls. The doorways were different shapes and sizes, carved with varying degrees of skill and care. Sarah spun around in a circle, looking for some kind of hint or sign. Some had faces carved above them, or strange runes on the threshold. She didn't know if any of them looked right, but many of them certainly looked wrong.

"Hello?" she called softly, against her better judgement. It had worked out alright before, so why not try again?

"Sarah..."

The sound was barely a whisper, full of pain, blowing up from a doorway to her left. A vein of quartz in the shape of a lightning bolt snaked from the ceiling to the top of the doorway, and the architrave was carved with many eyes which swivelled to stare at her. She swallowed, suddenly noticing how dry her throat was.

"Sarah..."

She leaped across the threshold and started to run.

The tunnel floor was rough and she stumbled many times, catching herself on the wall. Her palms and elbows and knees all bled from falling and catching, falling and catching. If the voice was calling her name still, she wouldn't have been able to hear it; her breath was too ragged, her steps too loud.

The floor dropped away suddenly, and Sarah almost fell. She was at the top of another staircase, leading down into rough, round room lit with flaming torches. And there, in the centre, suspended by chains, was a ragged blonde figure who was calling her name.


	6. Fall for Chains of Silver

Chapter Six: Fall For Chains of Silver

Iron chains held his arms over his head by the wrists. His body was limp, head drooping, his feet trailing on the ground. Sarah ran down the steps, almost falling again, and dashed towards him.

"Jareth? Can you hear me?" She took his face in her hands, turning his face towards the light. His eyes were glassy, unfocussed, and his mouth was bloody.

"Sarah... Sarah..." he murmured over and over. He was shirtless and barefoot, painfully thin, and his torso was covered in cuts and bruises.

"I'm here," she said quietly, "just look at me."

"Hmmm?" His eyes slipped into focus. "Sarah? You look terrible."

She laughed, a harsh bark that made him flinch.

"I see you still have excellent manners," she said, rolling her eyes, "you lousy ingrate."

"What are you doing here?" He licked his lips painfully. "Why have you come?"

"You named me as Champion," she replied, "so I came."

Sarah moved across to the wall where ends of the chains were wrapped around large hooks. With effort she unwrapped them, gently feeding them through the loop in the ceiling. Without the chains to hold him up, Jareth collapsed to the ground.

"Come on, you big baby," she said, crouching in front of him, "it's time to get out of here."

The shackles on his wrists weren't locked, and Sarah quickly removed the pins. Jareth immediately looked less pained, his shoulders less tense.

"You could have done that yourself, you know. You have magic powers." She wiggled her fingers in a demonstration of 'magic powers'.

"Cold steel, used for binding."

"Right. I knew that."

"Sarah, you're covered in salt." He had been reached toward her, but drew back his hand with a look of distaste. "If you know about iron, you should know about salt."

"Yep", she rolled her eyes, "I just swallowed half the bloody sea for you. No, don't look smug, we're going to have a long talk once I get you out of here, and you are not going to like it."

Jareth reached out again, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. She pushed his hand away, too slowly, too reluctantly. He looked at her like she was the sun and it made her heart hurt.

She helped him to his feet; he leaned heavily on her despite the salt, wincing with each movement.

"Quit being a baby." She grumbled.

"This is all your fault, you know. If you had only agreed to serve me-"

"Uh-uh, none of that. I don't know what you've done to get yourself here and I don't know why on earth I'm helping you, but if you start with that 'love me, fear me, do as I say' crap, then I'm going home right now." She propped him up against a wall and he brushed the salt water of his arm. "Now, how do we get out of here?"

"This is a prison, moon-heart", he sighed, "we're not supposed to get out of here."

"Well, I didn't come all this way to leave you to rot in a dungeon." Her teeth were beginning to chatter again, despite the flames around the room. "We could both use a hot shower. S _eparate_ hot showers."

"Here." He reached out to her, smirking, and placed a hand on her cheek. Delicious warmth spread from his hand through her body, drying her skin and her hair and her clothes. Jareth stumbled back against the wall, shaking his hand and wincing. "That is rather a lot of salt."

"Thank you." Her cheek burned where he had touched her and she felt herself blushing.

"It's been a long time since I was able to do magic." He whispered, tilting his head back and regarding her from under half-closed lids. "My Champion."

"Stop that." She turned so he couldn't see her blush even harder and looked around the room. "I think we're going to have to go back up through the tunnel. Do you think you can walk?"

"I'm quite alright. I don't need your help." He lurched forward, walking like a drunk towards the stairs.

"Make up your mind, you stubborn jerk", she sighed, moving after him and pulling his arm around her shoulders.

"That hurts, you know. The salt."

"Well, I can always put you back in the chains, if you'd prefer", she huffed.

Jareth fell into a brooding silence, which suited Sarah just fine. Her emotions were a confusing maelstrom. She half-dragged him back up the tunnel to the chamber of doors, neither of them saying a word. He half raised his arm to direct her to an entrance, and she pulled him through. Every step was clearly causing him pain; he would occasionally gasp, just softly, or whimper when their steps jolted him too hard.

"You shouldn't have done that spell", she scolded, "you should save your strength."

"Nonsense", he looked down at her, eyes sparkling. "It was a piece of cake."

Sarah groaned and rolled her eyes.

This tunnel was smooth, covered wall to ceiling in glittering black tile. The floor sloped upwards again, and Sarah could smell fresh air.

"I think we're almost there." She forced Jareth to walk faster, even though she knew it hurt him. "I can't have much time left, so move, you great glittery lump."

"I have endured hardships unnumbered for you, and this is how you speak to me." Jareth sniffed.

"Well, we can argue about 'hardships unnumbered' later, let's just get outside."

"Wait." He leaned back against the wall, drawing pained breaths.

"Are you alright? Do you need to take a rest?" she leaned against the wall beside him, trying not to notice her own aching muscles.

"We should talk now. While you are still within reach."

"I'd rather get out of your reach as soon as I can, thank you." She made to push off from the wall but suddenly he was there, hands either side of her head, bare chest hovering above hers.

"Miss Sarah Williams, you have been running away from me for years." His voice was ragged and his eyes bore into hers. "You will give me this."


	7. Though We're Strangers 'Til Now

Chapter Seven: Though We're Strangers 'Til Now

He smelled surprisingly good for someone who had been hanging in a dungeon when she found him. His scent was earthier than she remembered, less refined. She had only been this close to him once, in a ballroom long ago. They had both been buried under so many layers then, but here he was, so bare he was almost bone and close enough to touch.

"Why did you come for me?" The question was suspicious, loaded with distrust.

"Because you called me", she said quietly. "I... didn't really think about it. I just came."

"After all I did?" his hair tickled her face. She could see the cracks in his lips, the half-healed cut on the bridge of his nose, the yellowing bruise under his eye.

"I thought they had Toby, at first. Then I saw the owl feathers."

Jareth rolled his shoulders and grimaced as though remembering a pain there. He leaned heavily on the wall, narrowing the space between them. He brushed her collarbone with the tips of his fingers, slipping his index and middle fingers under the collar over her shirt and pulling the feather out of her bra strap. Sarah's face flushed red and she screamed internally.

"You came for me without thinking about it." Jareth sounded as though he didn't believe the words as he said them. "Why?"

"I knew you were in pain."

"Why do you care if I'm in pain?" He stared right into her, searching, trying to pull her inside out and read her thoughts. She hoped he had more success than she did.

"I just- I just do." Was that all she could come up with? That was a terrible reason. She had hoped she had a far better explanation for why she was in a foreign land on four hours sleep to rescue a kidnapping fairy.

"Sarah..." the way he sighed her name sent goosebumps rippling down her body. "You have changed so much, moon heart, but you are still as frustratingly obtuse as you ever were."

"Why do you keep calling me that? 'Moon heart'?" she asked.

" _There's such a fooled heart, beatin' so fast_..." he sang softly, " _I'll place the moon within your heart_..."*

Memories of a crystal ballroom sprang again into her mind. He had been so close, his hand on her waist, and she had wanted to kiss him, but she had been too young to understand. She'd had more important things to think about.

She kissed him now, gently, barely brushing her salt-crusted lips against his. She pulled her face back and he followed, pressing his mouth to hers. It was soft, just an idea, a thought he didn't know whether to follow through on, then he pulled away. Sarah reached up and rubbed the salt from his lips with her thumb. His eyes looked glazed again, but in a good way, like he was dreaming.

"Jareth... we have to keep going." He nodded, eyes still foggy. She took his arm and placed it around her shoulders, pulling him up the tunnel again. Jareth twined his fingers with those of the hand she placed around his waist, turning his face to breathe in the scent of her hair as they continued their painful ascent.

At last they rounded a corner and were met with rays of yellow sun. Sarah whooped again, dragging Jareth out of the tunnel and into the light. They were on a landing sliced out from the centre of the tower, held up by short pillars. A spiral staircase in the centre connected the halves of the platform together. All around them were grey waves, but Sarah could see what remained of the cliff face in the distance to her left.

With a flurry of black feathers, four cloaked figures landed at the base of the stairs before them.

*This is a boring footnote to say that these lyrics are from _As The World Falls Down_ from the _Labyrinth_ soundtrack and are therefore not mine!


	8. Welcome Committee Redux

Chapter Eight: Welcome Committee Redux

"I am reluctantly impressed." The olive-skinned Fae said, arching an already pointed eyebrow.

"This isn't my first rodeo", Sarah quipped, helping Jareth lean against the wall. "Now are you going to let me go home, or not?"

The fourth, unfamiliar figure shuffled forward, scrutinising Sarah's face deeply. She was very old, with spiralling white hair piled high on her head and eyes the colour of sea foam. She beckoned Sarah closer. Sarah glanced over her shoulder at Jareth, who nodded, his expression inscrutable. Sarah crossed the space between them and stood before the Elder Fae.

"You are a curious child", the Fae said softly, "to wield the power that you do. To defeat a banished Fae in a land of goblins is one thing, but to free a prisoner from one of our prisons..."

"Piece of cake." Sarah's lips twitched and she heard Jareth chuckle behind her.

"Hmmm... indeed. A moment, if you will." She shuffled back to the other three and they murmured quietly together. The first one who had spoken became increasingly agitated, suddenly breaking off from the huddle and striding across the space to where Jareth was slumped against the wall.

"This is unacceptable!" he yelled. "He has no respect for our ways, our laws!"

Sarah sprinted after him, skidding in front of him and shielding Jareth with her body.

"Hey, what do you this you're doing?" she cried. "I won, right? I did everything that you asked."

"Foolish mortal child, you have no part in this." His eyes flashed angrily and his skin crackled. "Step aside."

"I have every part in this." She replied, drawing herself upwards. "My will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great."

"Your kingdom..." the younger Fae woman placed her hand on her companion's arm. "Banishment, perhaps?"

"No," Jareth croaked, "you already banished me once, to a city full of idiot creatures. I will not be banished again."

"You were made King by your last banishment, and the mess you made of that is why we are here now", she replied coolly. "You chose your Champion well, Jareth, but this time your punishment must be more fitting."

"You can't kill him. I beat you." Sarah lifted her chin defiantly, trying to add an extra threatening inch to her height.

"And him", the Elder Fae said with a smile. "A fitting Guardian, it would seem."

"You would keep them together?" the Fae man exclaimed, spinning on is heel to face her. "This is your decision?"

"Yep ok that sounds good, let's take it", Sarah said in a rush. She had been searching in her pockets for something to defend herself with, and had found her lighter and the stub of a black candle. "Lovely to meet you all, must be off."

She clicked the lighter and, amazingly, it lit. Looping her arm around Jareth's, she held the lighter to the candle, and with a crack and a flash they were gone.

"That is so rude", the Fae man said.


	9. Only Forever

Chapter Nine: Only Forever

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" Sam yelled as the pair appeared back right where Sarah had left.

"How long has it been?" Sarah asked, looking around anxiously.

"Barely five minutes, but-"

"No time to explain. Jareth, you need to get in the cupboard." Sarah managed to tuck an extremely indignant ex-Goblin King into her wardrobe just before the RA entered their dorm room.

"Alright, girls, what's happened here?" Sarah and Sam stared at each other, having an intense argument with tiny eye movements, then turned and pointed at the same time at Sarah's bed.

"I just woke up covered in glass and feathers." Sarah spluttered.

"Right... this is probably some weird prank. Do you have any idea who could have done it?" the RA looked flushed and tired. She didn't seem to have noticed the cuts on Sarah's face.

"No idea", the girls said in unison.

"Ok, I'll call the cleaner and find out if they need anything specific done with that glass, and you two just try and keep away from it." She headed towards the door. "I'll have some paperwork for you later."

The door closed behind her and Sarah and Sam exhaled.

"Sarah."

"Yes?"

"You look like shit and there's a man in the cupboard."

"Yes."

Sarah hurriedly opened the cupboard. Jareth practically fell on top of her.

"You put me in a cupboard", he scowled.

"And you put me in an oubliette," Sarah retorted, "so get over it."

She helped him over the Sam's bed and sat him down. He was still in terrible shape, with several of his cuts still bleeding and bruising which was suggestive of broken ribs.

"What on earth did you do to deserve all this?" Sarah said quietly, running her fingers across his ribs.

Her stared at her darkly and she dropped her eyes.

"Sarah?" Sam tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

"You disappeared and reappeared and then there was a man in the cupboard", Sam took a deep breath, "and now he is on my bed and he looks even more like shit than you do."

"I do not like this friend of yours", Jareth declared, scowling again.

"Sam, I love you, and I will explain, but right now I need some kind of first aid kit."

"No, nope, I am not letting you stick bandaids on this guy without telling me who he is first." Sam crossed her arms.

"His name's Jareth." Sarah sighed. "He's- well, it's complicated. Maybe even more complicated than it was when I left."

"Oooooh, so this is Jareth! You talk about him in your sleep."

Sarah's whole face flushed pink and Jareth's face turned triumphant.

"How long is he planning to stay?" Sam asked.

"Um, I think he has to stay forever." Sarah frowned, searching Jareth's face for confirmation. He nodded, looking even more triumphant.

"You're my Guardian now. You have to make sure I don't get up to any... trouble."

"Ok, well, you can't stay here. I'm going to go text me cousin, he's got a spare room", Sam headed to the door, waggling her eyebrows at Sarah. "You two get some privacy for now, but I expect an explanation."

The door clicked shut behind her and then it was just Sarah and Jareth, alone.

"You'll have to get a job. I can't support you", Sarah started blathering. "Why did I agree to this? This was a terrible idea. The whole thing was a terrible idea. I don't even like you. You kidnapped my brother. This was a terrible idea."

"Sarah..."

"I'm not even supposed to have guys in the dorm room."

"Sarah." His hands cupped her face gently, pulling her face up to his.

"I'm still covered in salt..."

"Hush, moon-heart." Jareth closed his eyes and brushed his lips against her hairline. He ran his hands down the sides of her neck, her shoulders, her arms, wrapping one arm around her waist and bringing the other hand back up to cusp her chin. "Thank you. For being my Champion. For coming when you were called."

"I don't even like you", she whispered.

"You'll just have to learn." He brushed his lips against her hairline again, then pressed them gently to her forehead.

"I don't know how I'm going to explain this to... anyone."

"Sshhh." His fingertips grazed her hip under the edge of her sweater and his other hand found its way into her hair. "We have forever to argue now. Just give me this moment."

"That's not long at all." She smiled weakly. "But you can't ask me to keep giving you thinks when you took so much from me."

"Sarah..." His mouth was on the corner of her jaw and she shivered deliciously. "You took my heart, my kingdom, my title, my powers, and almost my life. And now, you've taken me. Is that not enough for you? I ask for so little."

"Ok." She took his face in her hands, pulling him up to look her in the eyes. "I'll give you this."

His mouth tasted like blood and magic and she hoped that forever would turn out to be a very, very long time.

* * *

Author's Note: Hello! As you may have guessed, that's the end! I had so much fun writing this and I hope you've enjoyed it. Now, I do feel like the ending is a little abrupt and there are a lot of questions left unanswered, so I'm beginning to think about thinking about a sequel. If enough people are keen then I am definitely up to writing one, so let me know if that's something you'd like to see. Anyway, thanks for reading my first fic in 5 years!


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